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I disagree. It's simple: if you're crucial to a small company, you're an owner and you get comp like an owner. If you have less than 5%, two options: (1) you're not actually as crucial as you think you are, or (2) you're being ripped off. (Could be some of both!) Buttering up employees and telling them they're crucial is, btw, free. Just like titles. Don't let your boss pay you with free things.

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Do you have any numbers or articles I can refer to to back up #2?

There are actually a lot of investors in the company and it raised a fair amount of money before I came on board.

I won't rule out #1. However, I'm basing that assumption on a lot of inside knowledge of how the company works. It's an evidence based assumption not an emotional one. And it's based a lot on how long I have been here and what has come to depend on me. I absolutely 100% do not think I can move to another company and be as irreplaceable, it is a niche I moved into by being the only one who could pick up the pieces when each of the other people left.

You're not gonna change your comp with a benchmark. You're gonna change your comp with a simple 3 step plan:

1 - get a new job

2 - quit

3 - see how indispensable your ex-ceo sees you as now

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